The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-06-30
MILES OF FLAME.
Trying to Subdue a Great Fire
in the Comstock Mines.
Fierce Flames Thousands Of Feet Under
Ground.

Ground
The Comstock lodo at Virginia City.
New, is Of itself one of the worlds won-
ders. 1t is, moreover, wonderful as a
spot in which tho greatest marvels Of
mining havo been performed. When
the great bonanza was being worked
5000, 900 feet of timber were lowered
into the deeps and set in place monthly
for forty months. Well, that mass of
timber has been on fire for two or three
years past, and at last has become so
terrible feature that it must bc SUBJ
dued or that portion of the great lode
abandoned. Some time ago 1t was hoped
that the fire might be arrested by bulk
heads, and so solid walls Of masonry
were built sixteen feet in thickness to
ward off the terrible fire. But the walls
soon became hot and the fatal gas gen.
Grated by the fire found its way out into
the open chambers of the mine. Some
thing else had to be done, and so 1t was
determined to try to drown the fire with
carbonic acid gas. Tho trial is now
under way, and Dan De Quille, in the
Virginia City Enterprise, gives descrip-
tion of it. 1t reads like the
description of battle be-
tween mortals and gnomes. From the
intensely interesting stat ment we con-
dense some naked facts. A furnace for
the manufacture of the gas is placed in
position on the 100 lever of tic Ophir
mine. The furnace is iron, like steam
boiler, lined with brick, and the ma
terial used for the manufacture of the
gas is coke and charcoal. The furnace
is fed at one end and the gas is dis
charged through twelve-inch pipe at
the other. The account says: "The
draft through the furnace is very strong,
and when the door is open the flames
within roar like blast furnace. Cast
iron, or any ordinary metal would be
melted in moment in the great heat.
The furnace makes 40, 900 feet of carbon
gas daily, and it is estimated that fifty
days will be required to sublue the fire,
as it is believed that it fills 1000, 900
feet of the mine. The pipe is at white
heat when the gas leaves the furnace.
This is carried down to tank or f1ume,
eighty feet in length, over which ten
inches of water flows constantly and
cools it. Then the pipe enters the main
incline, still lying in the trough, and
goes down seventy feet to the 1900
level. The water dashcs down through
this trough and over and around
the pipe with the noise of a
small Niagara" On that level the pipe
enters the bulkhead, which at that
point is twenty-lour feet in thickness.
The pipe is stamped in with clay, which
is kept constantly wet. The account
says: ga tremendous draft inside the
bulkhead sucks in the carbonic acid ga;
brought there through the pipe. When
the bu!khead was cut through for the
purpose of inserting the end of the pipe,
all were astonishcd at the draft that was
disclosed. 1t was SO great that tho
workmcn were obliged to be on theil
guard against being sucked in and
carried into the regions of interior fire. u
This may appear to be an cxaggeratioA
but an anemomctcr placed in the current
Of air showed it to have velocity of soc
miles an hour. Ga tine surface of the
, earth eighty miles an hour is thought tc
be an awful gale but here is gale O.
500 miles. This brings into ones mind
at once thoughts of the trcmendou
| gaseous disturbances to which the surface
of the sun is subject.
| Of course this draft was not long lcf
D open, the thrush of the atmospheric air
/ combining with the carbonic oxide ga
0 within, being Liable to form an explosive
compound. The pipe was in readiness
0 with its lower end closed, and it was a
, once thrust through the opeaing and tn
e work Of filling in around it begun.
e AS the gas passes in behind the bulk
head it settles down into the loves
t part of the enclosed space, bcing heavic
n than the carbonic oxide gas within
and also heavier than atmospheric air
s 1t will so down to the 1900 feet level
J, There it will be stopped off and pre-
u vented sinking farther by water. Thu
all the enclosed space in which are th
smoldering timbcrs will be filled up will
carbonic acid gas, which will displac
4 the carbonic oxide gas, just as waite
} poured into bottle displaccs the air.
&c When all the burning section has becl
:, thus filed up the fact will be known b
a carbonic acid gas flowing out througl
the pipe on the 1900 level through whic
o the gas from the fire is now escapin
into the old Consolidated Virginia shaft
: 1t may be stated that after the en-
o closed section shall have been filled I
oveifowing with the carbonic acid ga
5. it will be allowed to so remain mont
or two before any of the bulk-heads ar
opened. The opening will be very eau
,iously done, and only after carboni
u acid gas has taken the place of the car
bonic oxide gas at the escape pipe. Thi
,t may be known by several tests. A ver
simple one is to introduce the gas int
r lime water, when a precipitatc will q
ii once be formed of the contained lime.
The rock in the mine will retain hea
long time, but this may be overcom
% by the use of water thrown on throug
hose, once the fire is out and the ca
gont. Salt Lake Tribune.
&c "Thats sham," growled Jones, 9
' his pillow which had appeared full an